Ghosts in the Machines
by J u s t . E s c a p e
Summary: I think I've created something original here; Klaatu finds himself bound to the planet and when mysterious meteors hit Earth, it sets into motion a chain of events, destruction and demolition, a battle for resources. Will Klaatu save us? Or die trying?
1. Escape New York

**Ghosts in the Machines**

**Rated T: **For sci-fi action, peril, language, possible drug use and violent descriptions.

**Summary: **What if every attempt you made to return home was futile? How would you cope with being trapped on a planet that was not your home, trying to avoid being captured by the ones who still perceive you as a criminal; and your life lies partially in the hands of an Astrobiologist, her step-son and whoever else you meet along the way? Because let's face it Klaatu, you've changed the world for two people for the better, not to mention you've saved them from the G.O.R.T., but you've also turned New York into an apocalyptic catastrophe in the process ... You are not one of them. Your body is human but you are not. How will you survive as one of them, assuming there is no turning back, no escape? Who can you trust, where can you go? Your choices are few and far in between, Klaatu, and your invasion was only the beginning. There were others who wanted the Earth for a more greedy purpose. And now every country is breaking out into a war over resources setting into motion a chain of events, destruction and demolition. Will you save us Klaatu, or die trying?….probable slight Klaatu/Helen. Inspired by H.G. Wells' _War Of The Worlds_ (albeit not a crossover).

**Disclaimer: **And you all should know that I own nothing, save my creativity and the plot…and maybe whatever original characters you meet along the way.

* * *

**Escape New York**

SHE was frantic and scared. Yes, she was running scared. The world around her was an impending doom of disaster. The pavement cracked, cars flipped and tilted on their sides with steam seeping from the boundaries of their hoods. A delivery truck crashed through a grocery store, the glass shattered and scattered everywhere. A light pole was resting atop a small vehicle where there was debris, garbage and everything in between all over the place. How ironic, she thought, how the G.O.R.T. had left everything. Now Helen Benson was running like an escaped convict with her young step-son. Yet, in all of this they weren't alone; together they carried an unconscious male form.

The city alarm was ringing madly, sounding off like a bout of sirens. Some rubble fell here and there from damaged buildings and there was an aura of death reeking through the air. It was an oblivion of Hell. It certainly wasn't the Manhattan that they had always called home.

They rounded a car, its hood bent and buried into a brick wall that was brutally scathed. Inside was a grim scene; a man, his wife and a mural of splashed blood all over the windows.

"Don't look!" Helen told her step-son; but he knew very well it was there. It made young Jacob feel queasy and sick inside.

As they trailed on, she often asked herself in secret: _So what's the plan, Helen? What are you going to do? Are you making the right choice? _As of right now, she wasn't so sure of herself anymore.

They seemed burdened with this male body whose arms were draped over their shoulders and whose legs dragged along the streets, who groaned weakly in his groggy inactive state. But they couldn't leave him, Helen had concluded, to do so would've been cruel. He was vulnerable no doubt, his body battered and maybe broken. What survivors remained were more than likely in a frenzy, and whether or not they would spare him was a chance Helen didn't want to risk. The way she saw it, they could all three very well be seen as society rejects now.

The streets were bare of life. Everyone, or rather, those that lived, must have been fleeing to the shelters or hiding in their dwellings because every building they passed looked dark and lifeless inside. The gloom of the streets daunted them with dread, worry and fear; fear of what was laid out before them. Here it was, plain as day, a real life New York demolition just like in those _End Of The World _Thrillers.

There was also another possible dilemma to dwell on; the Military coming their way, searching for survivors and in the heap of things finding her and the alien. She didn't know for certain what they may do - should they be discovered - but waiting around to find out would be a foolish endeavor. The only sensible thing she could really do now was literally try to escape the city altogether before the Military had time to block the bridge - which is what they'd probably do in order to keep track of things.

In that moment, Jacob halted abruptly, nearly collapsing to the ground. Helen stopped too, looking with concern at the breathless child.

"Mom," he gasped, "Mom, I've got to take a breather."

"Okay." she said, speaking the same breathless volume. Helen had been so entangled within her thoughts that she'd nearly forgotten her lungs, and his.

They both knelt against the brick wall of an apartment flat, leaning their backs against its hard walls with Klaatu bent over between them. Helen tried to keep him upright with her arm, while allowing her other hand to glide over her temples. Already it felt as if they had been running nonstop for days - but really it was only an hour.

"Mom," Jacob began, "what are we gonna do with him…with Klaatu?"

Helen glanced him warily. Ever since their flee from Central Park, they hadn't spoken a word. It was rush and run it seemed, up until now. Her step-son could read her clearly though, knowing she was baffled and overwhelmed.

"I don't know." she confessed. There wasn't any point in lying to him and pretending to have all of the answers when clearly she didn't. "I'm just trying to get us home right now."

"Then what?" Jacob asked, furrowing his brows. Insecurity was written all over his face.

"We can't stay," Helen swallowed, hoping to catch her breath, "we'll have to leave."

"Leave?" Jacob questioned. "Where then? Where will we go?"

"Anywhere but here." She wanted to escape the confinement of a prison. This city of rubble was like being enclosed in a sewer. She wanted to find the open countryside, breathe cleaner air maybe, then go from there. What she didn't know was that there was about to be a global conflict that would spread throughout the country, every country, every city, every small town. A dark depression was on the rise, one unlike any other in history. She wasn't seeing it now, but it would come to her when her mind was clearer.

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"Jake, just don't question me. I've got to get us out of the city, okay? The Military might come. They might find us. It's possible that I could get into some serious trouble for assisting an alien."

"But you convinced him to give us another chance!" Jacob exclaimed. "They don't have any reason to lock you up!"

"I wish it were that simple. But they weren't there to witness it along with us. They don't know. They might not see it the way we do. And if they find Klaatu, he could be in even deeper trouble…danger maybe."

"So," Jacob sighed, "what are you saying, Mom? That we're going to be living like wanted criminals on the streets from now on?"

"Not necessarily. I'm hopeful that Professor Barnhardt can help us. If anyone knows the situation as well as ourselves, it should be him…I hope."

"Hope…well, what if he can't do anything?"

"Then we'll find another way."

That conversation was cut short when they suddenly heard the ruckus of human vocals humming towards them somewhere down that street. An old man, bristle bearded, only partially clothed with a fine board in his grip was the first they spotted. His wild eyes were almost red and he was shouting,

"Halleluiah! The world's come to an end! That'll teach us! That'll teach us sons of bitches!"

Helen gasped and immediately she and Jacob stood, struggling to bring the unconscious Klaatu to his feet. Behind the old man came a small band of followers, all of them about as half-witted and insane as he. They noticed them against the brick flat and the old man offered,

"Come! Come join us!" he wheezed inbetween laughs in a lunatic state-of-mind. "Let's all go have a riot in front of the New York Times! That'll give em' something to print up!"

"But the press is probably shut down." Jacob whispered to Helen, who shushed her step-son before speaking to this man.

"No thanks." she told him kindly, trying to hide her fear beneath her firm expression. Fortunately, the lunatic shrugged and left with his band of followers. It was then that Helen and Jacob, along with Klaatu, dispersed from that side of town - at least the man was rational enough to let them alone, Helen thought.

After they had walked several feet away from that spot, Jacob halted, bending down to retrieve a small pole laying lifelessly on the ground.

"I think I'll hang on to this, in case we have anymore encounters." he said.

"Good idea." his step-mother noted.

There was a small resentment in Helen, seeing as how everything was now. She didn't want to feel this animosity, but being only human she couldn't really help it when she glanced at Klaatu; but aside she pushed it, locking it away for the time being to keep her mind focused on what was really important: Keeping them safe and out of sight.

.:Å:.

By late noon, they had arrived home tired and worn, only to find the place dark and un-lively, not to mention the surprise waiting inside. Halting briefly on the street outside, Helen and Jacob ranked the place. It looked the same as it was, but there was a feeling about it that settled something unruly within their hearts, a sensation of being harassed, exposed and invaded. Nothing inside was in its place - the house had been deserted and had become vulnerable to the obvious case of ransacking. Its walls reflected cold emptiness and the couch was tilted on its backside. Everything else, the lamps, the vases, the photographs of their family, it had all been tossed and thrown everywhere by inconsiderate hands. The place was unlit and a draft seemed to float throughout the air. After deciphering it all, they advanced from the door entrance to push the sofa upright and lay Klaatu upon it.

"Oh God." Helen sighed once Klaatu was in place on the sofa. "Look at this place." She rolled her hand atop her head, feeling overwhelmed even more than she already was with all that was going on.

"Who did all of this?" Jacob said, picking up a broken picture frame that held a now bent photo of his father.

"Nothing's been stolen." Helen concluded. "Maybe someone was looking for me." That alone was a scary thought. "We can't stay long, Jake."

"What about Klaatu?"

"I'll look and see if anything's broken. He did take a terrible fall from that Sphere." she replied, coming close to the alien's side.

Jacob watched silently as his step-mother handled Klaatu with cautious hands. Each touch brought on a small writhing wince on the left leg and upper left shoulder - the side of which he had tumbled on - and she came to the conclusion that it was fractured; but it hardly felt broken. Feeling and pressing against his skin revealed to her the inner genetic makeup of any human being. Perhaps that should have relieved her more, but instead it frightened her. He was so complex, so strange. How was it possible, to take on such a form as this?

With Jacob's assistance, she removed his coat and shirt with little trouble to bandage his shoulder. During this procedure, she found that the left side of his ribcage was bruised and she wrapped a thick gauze around him snuggly. The leg was wrapped afterwards and she could only hope for the best. Helen was no doctor, she wasn't even qualified to be a nurse, but taking Klaatu to a medical hospital would not only be unreasonable with everything like it was, but risky too. She had to keep him secret.

"Mom, what about those little nano things that swarmed the city? Didn't they go inside of Klaatu?"

"Yes." Helen replied nervously, trying to button up the alien's dress shirt.

"What if they're still in him? What if they start coming out and swarming _us_?"

"Jacob, I don't know." Helen was growing agitated and Jacob was all the more concerned, pouring out questions that he desperately wanted answers to.

"What are we going to do with him? He's heavy. We don't have a car anymore and we can't stay here."

"Jacob I don't know!" she reiterated it more sharply this time, her harsh voice laced with exhaustion.

Jacob retained his silence and looked away, fighting the tears that wanted to play at his eyes whilst casting them down at the resting alien. But it wasn't Helen's impatience that grieved him, or even the way she yelled. It was this…all of this.

She knew it was overwhelming for him. It seemed like just yesterday he was a normal kid without a care in the world, save his depression and longing for his father - and quite literally that was true. Now they were faced with being not only two out of very few survivors in this city, but they were trying to run away, to hide somewhere - not to mention they were still accompanied by the same alien who brought all of this on them - of course, according to Klaatu, the humans had brought it upon themselves…it was just still so hard to see it that way; in his perspective that is.

"I'm sorry." She rekindled her calm nature, gently rubbing Jacob's back. "I don't mean to come off so harsh. I know you have a lot of concerns right now and you have every right to feel that way; but I'm doing the best I can, for both of us." Saying this brought many new realities to Helen and she acknowledged them with a great deal of dread. "The world's a different place now," she went on, "people aren't going to be the same they were before all of this happened."

"Apparently." Jacob grunted, recalling the lunatics earlier that day.

"There isn't going to be any open stores much, no fun at the park, no gaming and not even schooling."

"The schools being closed isn't so bad." Jacob smirked at her and he could see a small smile spilling on her face, but it dispersed quickly as she went on.

"Jacob, a lot of things have been demolished and," she hesitated, "the country, if not the whole world, is more than likely going to go into a deep depression." There it was; the facts coming to mind.

"So has our life, our family. It wasn't enough that we were already miserable with Dad being gone…now we have all of this to worry with. We can't even stay in our own house without fearing the Government."

"Wait Jake, that's one thing that I believe has gotten stronger in all of this."

"What?"

"Our little family."

Jacob looked at Helen - the shine in her eyes was a bout of oncoming tears.

"You and I love each other no matter what, and no matter what I'll be there with you."

"Promise?" he asked.

"Of course I promise." she smiled, reaching to stroke his unruly hair. "Do you believe in me?"

"Yea." Jacob grinned. "I believe in you if you believe in me."

"With all my heart." Helen assured him before leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead. "I think we'll be okay for a few hours." she said after breaking away and turning back to the sight of Klaatu. "We'll give him time to rest. Hopefully he'll be awake by night. If he is, we'll leave then."

"In the dark?"

"We're less likely to be seen, in case someone may be looking for us."

"I hope they aren't." Jacob said, exhaling deeply.

"Me too. Maybe the good thing about all of the damage is it may keep them preoccupied…the Military, I mean. I imagine they'll be out searching for survivors for a while. But if they find us, they'll recognize Klaatu and even myself. I'd hate to know what they'd do to me for 'helping' an alien who nearly wiped us out of existence." She tried to chuckle, wanting to take light of a dark situation, but Jacob knew how scared she really was.

"Mom," he began, wanting more than anything to release her mind from any tension.

"What?"

"Do you think we can open up a can of ravioli? I'm starved."

"Sure. I'm on empty myself."

.:Å:.

Night rolled around and Helen was upstairs packing, stuffing things like flashlights, comfortable clothes, towels, a first aid kit, soap, bathroom tissue and whatever else she could make room for in the hiking satchels they used to take along on mountain excursions.

Jacob was downstairs, slouching in his father's old recliner whilst drumming his fingers anxiously on the nearby lamp table. His heavy eyes were firmly trained on Klaatu, who, for the most part, had managed to sleep peacefully. In a way, Jacob dreaded him, and at the same time he was waiting hopefully for him to wake.

The house was lit by candlelight - the power wasn't fully in working order - and the little wax candles that were displayed on the coffee table illuminated Klaatu's face in little dancing flickers with their flames - it unnerved Jacob terribly. The alien began to stir then and the boy jolted up in a flash, cautiously nearing the alien while keeping a safe distance as he listened to his groans. Klaatu fell silent after a second or so and when Jacob dared to come ever closer, trying to listen to his breathing, the alien's dark eyes shot open and the boy nearly toppled over the coffee table in the frenzy of it all.

The alien laid still for time's sake, taking in all that was around him while his eyes blinked in a small bout of twenty counts at least. He was clearly uncertain of his surroundings, maybe even confused judging by the expression on his face. The glance he at length cast towards Jacob made the boy suspicious that perhaps, in that fall, Klaatu had suffered more than mere fractures and that he could have very well received a hit to the skull, causing him to forget the child's face - luckily, Jacob was wrong.

Klaatu roused, pulling himself up and wincing terribly all the while. As he did, Jacob yelled for Helen to come quickly; she did, clattering down the stairs in eager haste where she galloped to the den, holding her speech at first and rushing to Jacob's side where she wrapped an arm about her step-son's neck. When Klaatu took note of her, she too began to fear the flame in his eyes.

"Why am I here?" He demanded it with firmness. Helen struggled for words.

"Well," she stammered, "when the Sphere was leaving, you suddenly fell from it."

"It's lucky that Mom and I stayed around watching. We brought you home afterwards so the Military wouldn't get you."

"The Military." Klaatu repeated it, seeming to recall things in his daze. Then he said, "The Military can do no harm to me, unless they use an efficient weapon."

"But we-" Jacob tried to explain, "we just didn't want them to find you. We were try-"

"I know what you were doing and why. And I thank you." the alien cut in, speaking a tone un-pitched.

Helen's sigh was of relief. She still had that subconscious fear that Klaatu, being as unpredictable as he was, would find their attempts more of an offense than generous hospitality - thankfully she was wrong.

"I have some canned foods in the kitchen." she offered. "Would you -- do you want something to eat?"

His reply was a silent nod of the head, a brief one at that. The two humans assisted him to the kitchen and helped him to the table.

Helen began rummaging through the cupboards, offering him several different things, attempting to make him feel welcome. Most everything he refused until she uncovered a can of tuna - that he accepted - and he ate it vigorously. Helen and Jacob sat near him and watched in silence as he gormandized the canned fish, requesting another can once finished. After he accounted himself to be content, Helen explained the situation, telling Klaatu her plans for fleeing New York and why. He became wary in hearing this.

"Jacob and I want you to come along, if you will. I just don't think that staying here is smart for either of us."

Klaatu was reluctant at first, his mind bursting in thoughtful contemplation. Other than being stranded, he was faced with yet another choice: To follow the lead of a human being and escape a city that could very well prove to be a trap, or risk being caught.

"I will go." he said at last. "I have no other choice but to accompany you. You're the only humans I can trust right now," he paused, "and it is liable that I won't be getting home anytime soon. All of the Spheres have left, I am afraid."

There was tension in his hands and trouble in his face, Helen could see that quite vividly. In a way, it saddened her for him, yet strangely, at the same time, she found herself feeling guilty of being glad for his having no choice but to stay. Maybe because she believed that three heads were better than just two.

"Klaatu," She wanted to comfort him in the best way a human such as herself knew how, "Jacob and I are more than happy to have you…as a travel companion. I Promise you can trust us. We'll be a team."

"Can I?" His eyes wavered upon the sight of them, and he seemed to be reaching out for a form of reassurance.

"Klaatu," Jacob stepped up, wanting to clarify something, "I know I messed up, and I'm really sorry. But it's not going to happen again, I swear."

"It is alright, young Jacob." the alien sighed. "Everyone is…entitled to make mistakes."

"Even your people?" the boy asked daringly, but Klaatu replied gently.

"Yes. I think I can be an example of that."

Helen could only be hopeful that in that awkwardly admitted phrase he was referring to his lack of good judgment for the human race.

Not long after that conversation Helen finished packing, with Jacob's help of course, and they made preparations to leave. To their advantage, there were three bikes in the storage room, one of which was Mr. Benson's, and its condition was practically brand new.

They all straddled the bikes, and Klaatu seemed to manage fairly well despite his wounds and the difficulty he had wobbling about. Each rider had a backpack. Klaatu wore the one stuffed with canned goods, boxed foods and water - things that wouldn't spoil easily. Helen was sure to bring a bundle of blankets and pillows, strapping them to the back of her bike.

It was in the night that they left. They were indeed tempted to stay in the house so that they could at least have the comfort of a bed once more; but after finding the place ransacked, no one was comfortable enough to do so.

**To Be Continued.**


	2. First Findings

**First Findings**

A white moon, a sphere of bright illumination, was an eye that watched them from the sky and the city was settling into a mild fog. There was a chill in the air, and an essence that made one's bones chill down to the nerve. Was it the night? Was it all that had happened? Was it the fact that they were all making beds out of empty boxes in dark alleys, or did it have something to do with Klaatu's company?

They were on the second night since abandoning the house. They hadn't gotten as far as Helen had hoped, but despite their slow pace - Klaatu's wounds still pained him - they were still making progress. The only bad thing had been the roaring blades of the choppers looming in over the city with their bright spotlights glowing amongst the roads - searching for survivors more than likely. But if they kept going whilst avoiding contact, they would soon reach the bridge tomorrow no doubt.

Jacob rested his head against his step-mother's shoulder. The two of them rested their bodies upright in the discomfort of a damp cardboard box - their blankets and pillows made it more enduring at least - and Klaatu, preferring to be off to himself, had found a quiet place in one of the crates across from them. The way he slept was strange and solemn, as if nothing in the world could disturb him; and yet, the tiniest bit of noise could send his eyes shooting open.

As Jacob and Klaatu slept, Helen remained wide awake. Her body felt writhed and rattled and her mind was booming with a bout of random ideas and possible scenarios for survival. She was weary and overwhelmed and being cramped in a box didn't make falling asleep much easier. She knew she was a mess - both in state of mind and in general appearance - living on the streets made you look homeless quicker than she thought. Her eyes were burning and heavy and her hair was tangled and unkempt. Then there was another thought, the one thought that could set aside all of the other things that troubled her; and that was none other than Klaatu himself.

Dr. Benson was not a fool. She wasn't stupid and naïve either. She was grateful to this alien - he did after all spare humanity - and Helen thought she owed him at least a couple of travel companions to trust, seeing as how he wouldn't be going home anytime soon. But that little partial mistrust remained, sticking to her emotions like tar to a tree and often her eyes watched him.

She knew very well what he was. That body of his - as nice as it looked - it was merely a shell; and she couldn't help but note the possibility that Klaatu suspected her suspicions. She had been terribly distant from him these past two days; but the alien, being who he was by nature, seemed to pretend not to notice this silence between them and politely he had stayed to himself as well, allowing for her and Jacob to mingle amongst themselves - and Helen liked it that way.

The fact of the matter was that Helen Benson had every good intention of being Klaatu's friend, but at the same time she wanted him to know that her own trust was not so easily won. He had after all come down here to put an end to humanity - that wasn't something an Astrobiologist could forget so easily - and she hadn't forgotten his capabilities either. If he wanted to, he could snap like a brittle twig and end a dozen lives in one instant if given that opportunity. That alone was scary enough.

Despite these conceptions that Helen had, Klaatu had remained polite. He didn't appear to hold the trepidations of her acts against her and for the most part he seemed drenched with his own troubles - and he was.

During the day he looked alert and steadfast, albeit tender in the side and leg; but when noon rolled around he took more time to think of his own situation: the dilemmas that had him literally bound to this world. He couldn't help but wonder: _Could this be some sort of punishment, a result of my own mission backfiring on me? Am I bound to this place because of my own misjudgments and lack of empathy upon these people? Perhaps I am suffering for the little value that my race had for the humans, for valuing their lives so little, for stating that they have no claim over a planet that they have, for so many centuries, considered to be their own_.

It was a cruel reality to face, but Klaatu had no intention of sitting around and feeling sorry for himself. Such acts were fruitless for such a being as he and now it was all about survival - though the questions still haunted him.

.:Å:.

When morning came, they were not greeted by the warmth of an early sun but rather dreadfully by the grey clouds that now painted the sky in gloom. And in the great distance of the Manhattan skies they could faintly hear the ever growing sound of thunder rumbling through the clouds as if nature was here with a vengeance.

Everyone found that they were still sore. It was amazing how riding a bike through a massive metropolitan city didn't do you in half as bad as sleeping on the streets - and because of this, Jacob was growing a new respect for the homeless. It was something he never even considered up until now - but that's the way it always is.

Breakfast was served quickly - a box of cereal was consumed with slight ravenousness - and bottled water was the only beverage at hand.

"Hey Klaatu," Jacob began, "what do you think of Lucky Charms?" A curious grin was spilling onto his face as he searched for cheer in a negative moment.

"It isn't to my preference," the alien sighed, "but it will sustain me."

"Oh…" Jacob cackled. "I guess so."

At the sound of his shrill laughter Klaatu became wary, finding this behavior strange and out of the ordinary.

"What in the world is so funny?" Helen asked, partially smiling in her confusion.

"Nothing Mom." Jacob said, calming down at last. "It's just…" he glanced Klaatu almost sympathetically. "I just sort of feel for Klaatu I guess. I mean, I don't mean anything bad by it but…it must be pretty hard trying to blend in to a new life." The boy finished with the shaking of his head, tiny bouts of giggles still eased from his lips.

Helen rendered her step-son curiously. It was odd to her seeing him suddenly burst into a laughter - especially in a situation such as this. Perhaps he was expressing himself in his own way, flushing his body of the toxins that were stress, fear and anxiety. Laughter was one of the most powerful antidotes a human body could possess, so maybe it was a good thing.

They sat and rested a while longer, each of them uncomfortably silent whilst Jacob's yo yo fascinated him about as much as staring at the wall could - at least he had a reason for moving his hands. But the boy was yearning for a video game something awful.

A clattering sound came suddenly from the heap of cardboard boxes that were stacked a few feet away from them, each of them leant against the side of a brick wall. Everyone became curious and when Jacob heard a sudden whimper, he fled towards the boxes in a haste, carefully rummaging through and searching for God-knows-what.

"Jake! Jake what are you doing?" Helen asked, clamoring to her feet and jogging lightly to the boy's side. Klaatu, stiff and wincing, came wobbling to the scene after her.

"There's something in here." Jacob said, speaking a subtle volume. His step-mother watched eagerly as his hands searched through the pile of empty boxes. Before long, his hands retrieved a trembling little puppy, a very small one at that. The little thing was dangerously damp and its little eyes were crusted with cold.

"Oh my gosh!" Helen expressed, resting her hand upon her chest. "Poor baby. It must've been here all night and we didn't even know it."

"It looks sick." Jacob sympathized, attempting to warm the little thing in his jacket.

"Are there anymore of them?" Helen asked.

"Nah," Jacob sighed, "I only see this one."

The little puppy sneezed in the arms of the boy and it continued to tremble terribly. Everyone felt a little remorse, even Klaatu didn't like the sight of the animal's state.

"The animal is small."

Both Helen and Jacob turned around at the sound of Klaatu's matter-of-fact voice. The alien went on,

"It may not survive with an ailment."

As Jacob cradled the little pup, he admired it in a sense. It was a pretty little thing and cute no doubt with its short white coat and the big brown and black patches that blanketed its body. Perhaps a terrier mix of some sort. It couldn't have been anymore than six or seven weeks old at the most; but its little black nose was frightfully runny and its lungs were heavily congested.

Jacob's eyes finally shot away from the sight of the little thing and he turned to his step-mother with a desperate hope flaming in his eyes.

"Mom," he began slowly, "can we take it with us?"

"Honey," Helen sighed, "how on Earth will we manage with a dog? We have enough to worry about as it is."

"But it's sick. Honestly you don't expect me to just leave it here to die." Jacob retorted.

"No!" Helen replied. "Of course not! I'm just merely stating a fact. We'll just have to find some…I don't know, a shelter or something." she shrugged.

"A shelter?" Jacob questioned her with mistrust, furrowing his brows as he spoke. "What shelter? Everything's in ruins now."

"Jacob I-"

"All life is important, Helen." Klaatu cut in, obviously taking the boy's side.

"You two are acting like I'm some cold, ruthless dog hater who wants to just leave it to the mercy of the world, and that's not the case at all!" Helen defended herself. "I'm just trying to sort out the obvious complications of traveling on a bicycle with a sick puppy in your arm. How are we supposed to achieve taking care of a sick animal and ourselves too?"

"The same way we would if one of us were sick. Just look at Klaatu," Jacob pointed out, "he's got a hurt leg, a damaged arm and plus his side is fractured. But he still manages to get along."

"Jake, that's different. Klaatu is an adult who can take care of himself. This little dog however is just another responsibility to be straddled with."

"Like me, right?"

"Don't get smart with me, young man."

"I'm not." the boy replied. "I'm just…Mom, please don't make me leave it. Please. I promise I'll take care of it…I've always wanted a dog anyway."

Helen sighed, finding herself at a loss for words. Saying no to Jacob was more than difficult. If she refused, she'd not only look like a bad step-mother, but a criminal as well. It was a little puppy for goodness sake!

"Alright. We'll take it along. But before you get excited, I just want to confirm to you that as soon as the puppy is better - if it does in fact live - we'll be finding it a good home somewhere."

"Okay. Better than _no_ I guess." Jacob decided. In the back of his mind he figured that by the time it did get better, it would presumably grow on Helen and finding it a new home wouldn't even be in the question anymore.

"Now, how are we going to haul it around? You can't carry it in your arms all day." Helen said.

"I have a solution." Klaatu said. "Your mother is right. The animal is light now, but the longer you carry it, the more exhausted you will become. We will make it a crate on your bicycle."

"Out of what?" Jacob asked.

"These boxes should prove useable." the alien stated. "Grab that thick one there. Helen, do you have any rope; something we can use to bind the box to his bike?"

"I did bring some rope actually. It's not anything thick, but it's thick enough I guess. Craft rope." She went to her bike and began searching the contents of her satchel. At length, her hands retrieved a large spool of rope from one of the small compartments on the satchel's side. "Try this. I'm afraid it's all I have."

Klaatu took the spool in his grasp, unwinding a good length of the material to observe its strength. He began tugging the ends with his hands, testing it.

"It will do." he said.

Helen and Jacob watched with interest as the alien began weaving the rope through the holes he had poked through the small box. He then tangled it firmly about the front of Jacob's bike and at last twisted it into a tight, sturdy knot. It was about as professional as the work of a seaman.

"Alright." Helen said. "The puppy has a ride. I guess that once we put a towel in there for it to lay on, we can be on our way."

"I need to feed it first, Mom. I imagine the poor little guy's pretty starved."

"Okay. Feed it. But don't take too long. I don't really like staying in one place. I've got a bad feeling about this alley."

As quick as Helen had finished her sentence, a voice was heard from behind them, a withered voice that beckoned to them tiredly.

"Wait." it spoke, bringing the threesome to turn around quickly. "Please wait."

Before them stood a woman, not much older than Helen. She was clad mainly in denim and her face was drenched in some restless sorrow. Her short brown hair looked unmanaged and her eyes were darkened by the tiredness that burdened her.

"Ca-" Helen was taken off guard and there was a small suspicion boiling within her. "Can we help you?"

"I was hoping you could." The woman's voice creaked with a fluent British accent and she wanted to burst into hysterical tears it seemed. "You see, I'm quite lost."

"Lost?" Helen asked. The woman nodded in response.

"My husband and I and our two daughters were here on vacation when this all began happening." Now the tears were streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. "And I-I lost them. I lost them!" She attempted to dry her eyes but it was no use at all.

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Helen told her sympathetically.

"My name is Jean Rosewood. My family flew here from Liverpool to stay in a rental house." she gasped. "Now I'm literally on my own - something I've never been before - and I'm confused as in not knowing what to do, or where to go. I've tried looking for help, but so far all I've come upon is homeless folk I'm not so sure I can trust and raging people running amuck in the streets. And when I heard the three of you talking, I was desperate to make my presence known. I think you're the only sane people I've come across."

"Well, we happened upon a group of maddened people not too long ago ourselves. We're actually _from_ New York but we're leaving," Helen paused, thinking of a good backdrop for an explanation of herself, "to try and see if any of our family survived whatever may've happened in Jersey."

"I see." Jean's eyes rolled all over the sight of their baggage. "I hate to ask but, would you have anything to spare - something I could eat? I'm terribly hungry." She absentmindedly placed her hand over her stomach.

"Absolutely." Helen said. "Jacob, my son, was just about to feed his dog. Jake, give our guest a can of that ravioli."

"Sure Mom." Jacob was slightly hesitant, often glancing Helen and the stranger with question in his face; but he proceeded.

Leaving the alley was put on hold for another hour's time whilst the small group sat quietly together. Helen and Jean did most of the talking and Klaatu and Jacob listened silently.

"You haven't told me your name." Jean said.

"Oh, how rude of me! My name is _Sara Owens_." It came out rather quick and when she spoke the last name she feared she might have tripped on her own words. "This is my son, Jacob Owens and this is," Helen glanced awkwardly towards Klaatu who eyed her with the same answerless expression, "Um, my boyfriend Howard D-Dodson." She bit her lip beneath her blushing.

"Nice to meet all of you." Jean smiled warmly. So far she proved to be a pleasant woman beneath the grief that daunted her so horribly. "I cannot begin to express how thankful I am to have your company." She began gliding her hand through her unruly hair. "It's so difficult…without them."

Helen reached out, placing her own hand over Jean's once it had returned to rest in the woman's lap.

"Jean, I just want you to know that you're welcome to stay with us as long as you like."

"I'd like to; but I think that I may need to find a shelter when I part from you."

"I'd tell you where to go, but I'm not sure how many shelters there are, or where you could find one. All we've seen is choppers flying in over the city. I assumed that they were looking for survivors; but the three of us have remained hidden. We're very desperate to get to New Jersey."

"I see." Jean retained her silence for a good moment, then suddenly her dark eyes grew bright and she began to beam with a suggestion. "Maybe I can help you!"

"Help us?" Helen questioned.

"Yes! Yes, I could help! You see, my husband rented a motorboat down at the pier and we were supposed to take it out for the weekend. You could use it to get across to Jersey maybe, and technically you won't be stealing because it's been paid for."

"Oh I don't know." Helen said, cocking a reluctant smile. "We were planning on finding our way to the bridge and just riding our bikes but-"

"If you can't however, I can show you the boat. I know very well where to find it."

"Thank you Jean. Should any dilemma come up, I may take you up on the offer."

They rested for a good while longer, and whenever Jean began to wail and grieve Helen would comfort her eagerly whilst letting her tell her story about the horrors of losing her husband and two young daughters. Then dark arrived and they were forced to remain in the alley another night. It did prove to be a fairly good day, but tomorrow would not hold the same comfort - and Klaatu could sense it.

**To Be Continued.**


	3. A Threat Among Them

**A Threat Among Them**

Few of us can imagine the deep depression that occurs and the insanity that dwells within when you lose someone you hold dear to an uncontrollable disaster that seems to happen in the blink of an eye. Not many of us take mere trips to other countries simply wanting the pleasure of a much needed vacation in hopes of not only enjoying one's self but becoming closer as a family - so how does it feel to have it all taken away? There must be some great deal of regret in one's heart, and a constant wishing in the mind: Would we have been safer at home?

Klaatu was beginning to ponder on this, for he himself was slowly experiencing that knotting feeling that claims one's dignity and sureness. Now, looking upon the three human beings that slept, he was feeling a small deal of regret. Because of him, that poor woman lost her husband and two children. Because of him, Helen and Jacob had nowhere to go. Yet, at the same time, he knew his decisions had been necessary.

Helen roused in her slumber, finding it difficult to sleep herself. Jacob was tucked in beside her with the puppy wrapped in his arms and Jean was sleeping heavily with her back to the wall of a building. But where was Klaatu?

As she rose, she caught sight of a tall silhouette standing half-leant beside a stack of wooden crates. She stood then, pushing the quilt that hugged her body aside, and began making her way to stand beside him.

"What are you thinking?"

Her voice nearly startled him, but in a way he was glad that she had released him from the woes racing through his mind.

"Helen." he uttered in the dark.

"I can't sleep." she sighed, glancing at the empty road ahead. "I can see I'm not the only one."

"You are correct."

To stand beside an extraterrestrial was not the most comforting of feelings, especially when knowing that he was one of the only travel companions you had to trust. Yet, he gave her a little peace. Maybe she was beginning to perceive him more as a guardian now.

"So," she began once more, "what's on your mind?"

"I was thinking about several things." he told her.

"Mind if I ask what?" She sensed his reluctance in carrying on and she was almost daring herself to press him.

"Human beings."

"Human beings?"

"I was musing at how your people must be handling all of this. In a way, I can hardly imagine how they will manage to reclaim the purity of respect for this planet with all that they're facing now - most of the common people at least."

"Yea." Helen sighed. The next set of words seemed to slip out of her as if they were spoken by another person, as if she was programmed to recite it. "I guess that bringing an apocalypse upon humanity isn't all that reasonable after all … especially since it normally sets the world into a crisis."

_Oh my God, did I just say that_? She questioned herself. To her relief, Klaatu did not become upset, though he still managed to defend his own acts.

"I wasn't planning to let the humans survive to begin with. I had orders and I was sent to carry them out." He glanced towards her then and said, "Granting your wish was a last minute result for the hope of a second chance that you so strongly believed your people deserved. And I wanted to believe it too."

"You _wanted_ to believe it?" she pressed.

"Yes Helen. My people do not relish in the demolishing of any species. We only do so when we feel that there is no other choice, and it is the only way we feel that we can save whatever other species - such as animals - that are suffering for it. To destroy life, for us, is an attempt to preserve what is left."

"So you're saying that when you do decide to wipe out a race of people, it's because they're destroying the rain forests and wildlife." She spoke it with a matter-of-fact bitterness.

"If that is how you prefer to word it, then yes." he calmly replied.

"But isn't it cold to perceive every individual human as 'bad' just because some of us screw up? You know, there are a lot of activists on this planet who are just as passionate about this Earth as you."

"But unfortunately, in nature, many are forced to suffer for the mistakes of others. You could think of it in this manner: If a Dingo in Australia slaughters a farmer's lambs, every Dingo in that area is hunted and slaughtered for the act of one, even if they have never wandered upon a farm themselves."

It was becoming apparent to Dr. Benson that Klaatu's people must've observed the Earth in great depth to know so much about it - Dingos in Australia.

"But it still isn't right. We aren't Dingos, we're human beings Klaatu."

"Helen, it is that kind of expression alone that nearly caused the end of your kind. If human beings continue to value themselves over the Earth, they will fall victim to the same threat again, and I doubt you'll be granted a second chance by whoever my people send a third time."

"A third time?"

"Yes. Do you not recall the elder I spoke with in the restaurant?"

"Well yes, but-"

"He is like me. He came here to observe your kind, although unlike myself his mission was a subtle one and he was able to choose, at his own convenience, to remain." The alien sighed as if there was some longing within him.

"I still don't understand your way of thinking." she argued.

"And that is what makes you and I so very different." he informed her.

"Well," she retorted, "I suppose I should be thanking you rather than arguing. I suppose that I should feel honored and privileged that you let us live to begin with. And I suppose that I shouldn't be upset by all of this disaster."

"So you blame me." he stated it with question in his dark eyes.

"I don't want to. I want to blame the Military for upsetting your…your machine, or as they call it, the G.O.R.T., but I can't help but feel that none of this would've happened if you had just left us alone to begin with."

"You speak foolishly."

She glanced him coldly, seeing as how arrogant he appeared now in the dark with his hands at his sides and his body so straight and firm - the same confidence he had in his words.

"Foolishly?"

"Yes, Helen. I thought that by now you would realize why I was forced to come - that your people were destroying the Earth."

"And that goes to show just how little you _really_ knew about us to begin with!"

"You should lower your voice. We have company."

"I know that!" she hissed, lowering her tone. "But it just so happens that we were trying to 'go green' as some of us put it,"

Klaatu sighed as she carried on.

"We had plans for changing already. More eco-friendly cars, houses, cleaning supplies, organic products, you name it!"

"Helen,"

"Let me finish! Your people couldn't even wait long enough to let us change on our own!"

"That is because the humans weren't progressing fast enough. They were making better plans but still retaining their old ways at the same time. This Earth was dying, and it is because of your people. We had to act. We had to save the Earth and the diminishing species."

Damn him, Helen thought, damn him for being so blind to how she and countless others felt. How could he ever understand, ever know?

"How would you feel if you were in my shoes right now? How would you feel if you were forced to leave your home because it was possible that you were wanted by the Government for assisting an alien who was sent here to destroy and wipe out every single being on this planet?"

"I believe I am feeling much the same way as you already. I am unable to return to my home." Klaatu said.

"No Klaatu, you're just hanging around us because you have no damn where else to go and because I invited you to come along."

Helen was not one to let her rage get the better of her, but more than anything she was reacting to all that was unfolding; the change of lifestyle, living on the streets with only dry goods to eat on. It was enough to push anyone over the edge when you thought about it. Going back to her old life, that was comfortably good, wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"And I appreciate your generosity." the alien insisted.

"Just…stop saying things like that! I'm angry now!"

"And I understand your frustration more than you think."

"How so? How can you understand? You're not a single mother with a young child that you're constantly worried about."

"Worry is one of the sacrifices that comes with motherhood."

"Don't start ridiculing me about motherhood! Just because I'm not Jacob's biological mother doesn't make him any less than a son to me. I happen to know the sacrifices of having a child, and I've embraced and welcomed it eagerly!"

"I am not ridiculing you."

Helen was upset, and the more Klaatu remained calm in speaking to her, the more outraged she became with him.

"You know what? I'm wasting my breath here. Arguing with you is like arguing with a stubborn no-it-all, or better yet a damned tree! So I'm just going to call it a night and go back to bed. I don't even know what possessed me to come and get you all riled up anyhow."

She threw her arms upward, expressing her stress, and began cantering away from him. Klaatu, still calm compared to herself, informed her once more,

"You did not upset me."

"Yes, I know! You don't have the emotional burdens of being angry, disappointed, happy or even sad. Goodnight." she snapped.

If only she knew otherwise. It was true that he did not express himself the way a typical human did - to behave in such a way was not efficient to his kind, nor was it their nature anymore than it was for a cat to burst into laughter - but it didn't mean he felt nothing at all. He had his guilt now, his questions, but he didn't expect her to know that. He was an alien after all; a completely different creature than she.

"Wu," Klaatu sighed aiming his eyes at the starless sky above, "how did you manage among them so well?"

If only he could speak with Wu again. Dear Wu, surely he would understand Klaatu, perhaps even give him a peace of mind. But where the old man was now he did not know. It was possible that he too might have fell victim to the G.O.R.T. destruction.

.:Å:.

Forenoon was upon them once again. The hour was around 6:00 a.m. and everyone was still sleeping, save Jean who strayed around the corner to urinate behind a bundle of trashcans - but to urinate was not her only purpose for straying away from the group.

"Come on, come on," She was unnerved and agitated, pressing the on button upon her cell phone in anxious desperation - she had been working it on and off all night. "Dammit, work you bloody piece of-" The cell lit up and the screen became active, though its light was dim. "Thank God!" she gasped.

The thing had been dead for some time and getting it to come back on had been one hell of a struggle. She began dialing a number and her eyes shifted about the area, her head slightly peering around the corner of the brick building to ensure that they were still sleeping.

"Yes, operator? Is this the operator?"

"_Yes ma'am. Your call has been transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas. The lines are down in the north eastern U.S."_

"Oh,"

"_Are you trying to contact someone?"_

"Yes. The police I think." Jean was secretly amazed that her phone was even working well enough for her to call anywhere now - good thing it was a cell.

"_Hang on."_

Another voice picked up the line.

"_This is the Little Rock Police Department, what is your emergency?"_

"My name is Jean Rosewood. I'm here in New York City and I want to report," she swallowed, "I've found the alien who did this."

"_What? Ma'am, can you repeat yourself?"_

"I said; I've found the alien."

A ruthless silence lapped between the lines for a minute and Jean could faintly hear the man sigh.

"_Ma'am, I'm sure that, like the rest of us, you're stressed and overwhelmed by everything that's happened, but this isn't necessary."_

"Are you accusing me of being some absentminded prankster who's lost her bloody marbles? I'm telling you the truth here! I heard them last night with my own ears. I'm in an alley right now and they're sleeping. I know it's him, it's the alien who did all of this!"

"_Ma'am, just calm down-"_

"Don't tell me to calm down! If you cannot help me, then transfer my call to the Government! Please! I'm not insane! I know that man's face! I saw him on television. He was that wanted hostage everyone was looking for, or rather, that alien!"

"_Ma'am, I'm sorry. We can do nothing to help you right now. You're obviously overwhelmed and acting out in your own way."_

"Transfer me to the Government then!"

"_I can't do that."_

"Then put me online with someone who can!"

_Beep_

"Hello? Hello?…Bloody bastard!" she exclaimed, nearly throwing the cell aside; but she resisted and instead slipped it back into her pocket for safe keeping.

She jumped suddenly at the oncoming sound of Helen (or Sarah as she had come to know her) calling her name.

"I'm over here!" Jean rounded the corner of the building, managing an awkward half-grin. "I had to use the little girl's room - or rather, the trashcans."

"Well you better come and help us eat some of this yucky canned food we have." Helen smiled.

"I'm coming dear, I'm coming."

The whole time they were eating and preparing to move on, Jean was peculiarly anxious in their presence; but her strange behavior was put off as nothing more than the same thing she was feeling yesterday when speaking of her family. But Klaatu watched her carefully. There was something about the way Jean eyed him that made the alien feel uncomfortable in her company.

"So," Jean began as she watched them loading their bikes, "are you leaving for the bridge now?"

"Yes we are." Helen said. "And if we're lucky, we'll be in New Jersey before long."

"Perhaps I'll go with you, a little further at least."

"That'll be fine." Helen said.

"Hel - Sarah," Klaatu broke in, "can I have a word with you alone?"

Helen eyed him inauspiciously before responding.

"I guess. Jacob, wait here with Jean."

Klaatu grabbed her by the wrist with firmness, pulling her deep into the alleyway some many feet from where Jacob and Jean stood waiting by the bikes on the road.

"Klaatu," she said, pulling away, "what's wrong?"

"This woman who has taken up with us. She has been acting strange and I do not like the way she glanced at me during our meager meal. There was something in her expression that uneased me, as if she knows something she shouldn't."

"She couldn't possibly know anything."

"What makes you so sure? She could have easily listened in on our conversation last night."

"Impossible. She was snoring the whole time - and we weren't that loud. Klaatu, don't you think you're judging her a little irrationally? Maybe she's just leery of you because you don't say much; in fact, you haven't spoke a word to her. Besides, we can't just run her off when she's on her own. She lost her family for goodness sake - she's just like us."

Klaatu did not respond; his eyes were aimed downward towards the ground. Seeing his wariness, Helen rested her hand upon his shoulder and said,

"Come on. We'll be okay."

The alien was full of trepidation, but he merged back to the bicycles with her nonetheless feeling that at this point he had no other choice. He couldn't come right out and say that he suspected Jean knew something. It was too risky. And maybe Helen was right.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks everyone for the reviews! It means a lot to have so much support on this fic. Thanks to my anonymous reviewers too :)


	4. Narrow Flee

**Narrow Flee**

Can you imagine the least bit, being alone and thirsty for a warm bed - a tv dinner maybe - and being on the streets surrounded by debris, constantly watching your back and waking up every other hour looking around and realizing that it's not a dream?

The rain was beating down on everything in a moderate drizzle, but the bike riders rode on despite the weather. Because there were only three bikes available, Helen was generous and took shifts with Jean.

The bridge was at last before them. This particular one was a part of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an over water byway for transportation through one state to Manhattan. But the bridge had been locked and shut by the knot of Military trucks that crowded the opening. Soldiers clad in tan and green stood firm and waiting whilst lines of countless people awaited their passage through - every citizen looking poor and starved , starved of their once normal lives.

"Every bridge in the city must be roped off. They're monitoring the evacuation routes." Helen concluded, standing upright and still beside her bike. "There's no way we're getting through that."

"What? Why not?" Jean questioned - she was pressing her more than anything.

When Klaatu suddenly glanced Jean with a glare of mild suspicion, she cleared her throat and turned to Helen saying,

"Why can't we just go through like everyone else? It's not like we're _hiding_ anything, are we?"

Helen shot the woman a stare herself then, one that was insecure; though she tried to hide it.

"Of course not." Dr. Benson said confidently. "But we won't get there quick enough waiting in that line. I'm desperate to see that my relatives are well and fine, Jean. I'm sure that you understand that."

Jean's eyes widened with reluctance before she replied.

"Oh, well yes. I do understand." she said, recalling the faces of her late husband and daughters. A cold, stabbing chill seemed to run up and down her spine as the horror began to trace back through memory lane.

"Then I suppose this is where I ask you to escort us to that boat you mentioned earlier." Helen said.

"Oh, right." Jean had an expression that looked as if she were hiding something. What was bothering her was missing the opportunity to turn in a small band of wanted criminals. But a last minute opportunity made itself known when Jean took notice of the large tables where soldiers were handing out canned goods to every civilian that waited in line.

"Mom, they're handing out food." Jacob pointed, noting this too.

"We'd better go and get a bit of it." Jean insisted eagerly. "We may not luck upon anymore for a good while yet."

"We have enough to last us for another week at least." Helen suggested, feeling the heaviness of her satchel. "Let's go."

"No!" The word boomed out of Jean's lips harshly - Jacob jumped in his skin - but she rekindled her more subtle nature before carrying on. "It's only sensible for us to get what we can when we can get it. It's free obviously, and they're handing it out to whoever."

"Jean really, I think we can manage-"

"Nonsense dear! There's three adults here and a growing boy, not to mention a sick little dog. If you want, Jacob and I can go and get a few canned goods while you two wait here."

"I don't know." Helen said.

"Mom, we do need some food. We don't even have any vegetables."

"Since when do _you_ like vegetables?" Helen asked.

"Since I started living on the streets. I gotta keep my strength up, don't I?"

"I guess you're both right." Helen sighed. "We'll wait here while you two go and get a few things. Try and get some meats and vegetables if you can, but not more than we can carry."

Jean and Jacob walked steadily to the long lineup of metal tables where countless cans of goods were stacked on top and underneath. It was a delightful sight to see so much food being given out so generously, but it still gave Jacob that nagging feeling of being in a soup kitchen; and with his face stained with dirt and his jacket reeking of odd odors, he easily looked the part of a homeless.

The soldiers weren't the smiling type; they didn't say much either, save 'move along' and 'next please', but they weren't cruel - everyone seemed to have a mutual understanding for the situation at the moment.

Jacob directed one female soldier on what he wanted, and she was generous enough to put it all into a box for him - apparently kids were still getting the friendliest end of the deal. Jean on the other hand was contemplating other ideas - her hand retrieved only one can with the intension of looking unsuspicious to the boy not four feet from where she stood.

Her mind was aching her with these contemplations. She felt like one battling a decision out with two people. A part of her wanted to go through with it while the chance was available, but the other part kept saying no. 'Sarah' was a mother with a little boy - her step-son obviously - and like Jean she was only trying to survive. But that man, that strange man who was really something extraterrestrial, oh she had to do something about him.

_It's only right, isn't it? I must go through with this and put my sympathy aside. He's a threat to our society and because of him I've lost the only things that mattered in my life - confound the bastard!_

If she thought of it that way she had no trouble at all going through with it. Surely no physical harm would befall the boy, Jacob, and even if 'Sarah' served time she'd be well and fine; but Klaatu she had to report. She had to act fast. How dare he. How dare he live freely on the street as one of them. He was a monster!

When she was certain enough that Jacob was busy helping the female soldier fit his goods into the box, she eyed a Colonel desperately, her expression a beckon of plea for him to acknowledge her.

"Ma'am?" the Colonel asked, leaning slightly over the table.

"I need help." Jean whispered, still watching Jacob. "I'm traveling with a wanted hostage, the same one that was wanted a few days back - it's him, the one who did _this_."

_The one who did this._

That phrase stung Jacob's ear just loud enough for him to turn and glance the woman near him giving her that huh - or rather a wh-what? In that moment he dropped everything he had just begun to carry and raced back to his step-mother and their alien companion as quick as his tired feet would carry him. He could hear Jean shouting behind him,

"That's him! That's the boy who's with them!"

"Mom! Mom! She knows! She's reporting us!" Jacob bellowed as he climbed to his bike.

"Let's move!" Helen ordered.

It all became a rhapsody of narrow escape after that. They could hear soldiers crying orders, telling people to stay in line and remain calm whilst engines began to crank and speakers began to hum the tune of Military threats.

"_Stop now or we'll be forced to release fire_!" the male voice over the speaker said.

"They're going to fire at us?!" Jacob cried, struggling to glance at the moving trucks over his shoulder and keep his eyes on the road at once.

"Follow my lead!" Klaatu commanded. "But stay in front of me! Turn there!"

They whipped around a corner road with swiftness, peddling faster than they were aware of. Their hearts were pounding with the frenzy of the moment and their lungs were working overtime - the little puppy held himself firm in the cardboard crate on Jacob's bike.

"Turn right!"

The trucks were gaining on them and by the time they had whirled around a corner for a fifth time, they heard the frightening sound of machine guns firing off, bursting their ears with their loud impending rounds.

All the while Helen wondered what drove the soldiers to be so eager to release fire upon them, especially with a child at stake. Were they so desperate to capture the alien that everyone still perceived a threat that they would risk inflicting harm upon a little boy?

It was obvious during the oblivion of un-planned escape that they still thought he was here, hiding amongst them, and they were right to believe so.

"Turn left and take a right!"

Klaatu directed them to a small corner street that ran through a lineup of old flats. There was no chance of the trucks getting through here, but they would meet them on the other side.

"Let's hide in one of these buildings!" Jacob pleaded, breathless and withered.

"No!" the alien protested. "We will only be trapping ourselves and making it easier for them. Keep going, we'll be at the pier soon."

"You know the way to the pier?" Helen asked.

"Yes."

The trucks were literally waiting for them to come flying out of that small backstreet - though fortunately, they weren't quick enough to cut them off.

"_Stop_! _Stop or we will continue to release fire_!" the man over the speaker went on before the machine guns went off once more.

"Klaatu," Helen cried out, "maybe we should just stop! I don't want anything to happen to Jacob! They're shooting at us for Christ sake!"

"Keep going!" he retorted.

Being clever in a tight situation, Klaatu directed Helen and Jacob to ride through a small park. This made it all the more challenging for the trucks to follow them, but at the same time it became a challenge for the threesome to maintain speed over the grass. Still, they stayed on top of the game for the time being while peddling back out onto a road where they crossed a four-way and traveled through the ghetto until they could see the pier ahead.

"That's it! We made it!" Jacob beamed.

"Not yet. They're still on us." Klaatu said, unintentionally killing the moment.

The trucks came to a halt at the end of the road and soldiers came leaping out the back and front of the vehicles with guns in their arms and a mission to accomplish. As they chased their victims, the three remained planted on their bikes as they eased on to one of the long wooden docks that hosted tightly parked boats - boats of all sorts.

As the soldiers progressed, the victims were faced with a last minute result to leap off their bikes as quick as possible, grab everything they had, and hop into the nearest boat.

"They're coming!" Helen fretted as Klaatu tore his way into the electrical socket of the small motorboat. "Klaatu hurry!"

Jacob was holding the puppy close, watching worriedly as the soldiers came trampling down towards them with shouting voices.

The alien worked his hand in the socket that he had ripped in to, feeling the sting of small shocks as he managed to start the engine without a key - by the mere touch of his own fingers, it began to rumble smoothly.

Helen wasted no time taking the wheel and getting them out of there. The rope that held the boat to the dock ripped off the pole - the pole that was painted with splashes of pelican fecal matter - as she backed up in a haste, bumping into one of the larger sailboats beside them - they barely escaped trying to avoid flying bullets by ducking down and quite literally squeezing out of there almost blindly.

It was a great relief to know that their attempt had been successful, as it was never a promise to begin with. And more than likely the penalties that both Klaatu and Helen would pay could not be gentle ones. Who knows what might have become of them had the Military been triumphant this day. As of right now, they didn't even want to ponder on that. They were just glad to be where they were - in the safety of a speeding boat.

"Klaatu," Helen began after their lungs had rested and their minds were less shaken, "how did you know where to go; to find the pier?"

The alien sighed in his seat beside her, taking a moment to think of a way that he could make it understandable for her.

"It is in my instinct." he said. "My people are born with a natural ability to locate water that is within a twenty mile radius using a sort of telepathic sensory. The reason for this is to enable us to find our way home with ease. You see," he said, looking her way, "we build our homes and cities near the ocean's edge on the planet we live on. It is just one of our mandatory needs for survival - and it is a resource."

"Oh." Helen uttered mindfully. She couldn't quite grasp it really.

"And if not for that, I would've found it, needless to say. It might have taken longer, but the city was mapped out before my coming here."

"Cool." Jacob commented, impressed. He was slowly beginning to look upon the alien in a new light - he was almost like those comic book super heroes with extraordinary gifts.

In the corner of her eye, Helen caught glimpse of Klaatu's hands gliding over his legs and clutching his knees. She could hear him wince silently to himself beneath the roar of the boat's engine that cut through the water.

They stayed on the boat for a day and a half, making their way to the Jersey coastline and eating without gorging themselves. But when they caught sight of choppers flying in overhead, they were forced to drive ashore, taking what they could find in the boat's closet compartments - a lantern and a box of matches. They waded to shore from there and dispersed into the woods. By this time, a thunderstorm had come on.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, I hated turning Jean so sour so fast, but it had to be done :(


	5. It Has Begun

**It Has Begun**

They felt about as dizzy and blurry as the morning looked in the fog of the grey dawn. Helen was the first to stir, accidentally waking Jacob as she did - his head had been resting in her lap. They both took a moment to rub their eyes clean and blink them till they were wide awake. It was damp, the lush green and brown overgrowth around them. And because of this, their clothes were not much dryer.

They scanned the perimeter of the area - a small clearing surrounded by pines and oaks - taking little time to come to terms with the fact that Klaatu was nowhere to be seen. Damn! Where was the man -- no, alien?

Helen stood to her feet abruptly, pulling Jacob up as she did. The boy could hear his step-mother's breathing growing erratic and unsteady - was she panicking over his absence?

Both of them stood in the mist like grey-clouded silhouettes. When they began shouting and calling his name, the puppy stirred and woke, and a small family of robins fluttered overhead out from a looming tree branch.

"Klaatu!"

"Klaatu!"

"Klaatu, where the heck are you?!"

That went on for several minutes until their croaked voices could take the shouting no more. Jacob turned and looked at his step-mother, giving her that questioning stare that said: What now? - It reminded her of the same expression the puppy often had.

"Come on." Helen said, and they began to pace. Jacob gathered the little dog up into his jacket.

Of course, by the time they had peered out of the clearing between the trees, they saw a wandering figure - a ghostly shadow in the distance - coming towards them. It was lame in its steps and often it limped and stumbled slightly. Helen knew without a doubt it was him.

When he saw them coming at him, jogging amongst the forest, his attention was diverted from anything that may've been on his mind - for a moment he didn't heed to the fog of the morning or the dampness of his clothes or even his hunger; he forgot the patent need of self-preservation.

He came splashing through a small pit of tumultuous water, pushing aside a limb that lay floating in his path with his good knee, until Helen and Jacob caught him in their arms - he waited just long enough for them to reach him before deciding at the last minute to collapse upon them. He was a heavy load, all of his weight bearing in on them. Somehow they managed to nestle themselves beneath his arms and escort him out of the water pit.

He fell to the ground, laying himself down in the dirt. There were twigs weaved in his wet hair and his silk shirt had been repainted with the brown of mud and dirt. He was a nasty sight - he was far from the cleanliness he had been days before.

He mouthed something but it was almost too silent to hear. He repeated it again, this time more desperately, something about water and food.

Helen motioned Jacob to run back with her to get the satchels and when they returned she lifted the alien's head up - her palm beneath his drenched head - and poured water down his throat from one of the plastic bottles. Jacob was plundering and searching for something he could eat, but by the time he had retrieved what could be filling, Klaatu had fell victim to a heavy slumber. It wasn't until he woke four hours later that they were able to question his reason for leaving. He began eating something and Helen wasted no time in asking him,

"Where were you? What happened?"

He didn't look at her between the bites he took but replied as if it were nothing of alarm.

"I went searching for the road and I found it. If we leave soon, we'll be in Coxville by morning."

"Coxville? Well, okay - but - why did you come back like this? You fainted."

"I was tired and weak." he said, and left it at that. Neither of them questioned his dirtiness - Helen and Jacob didn't look much better themselves sleeping in the dirt and grass.

"What's in Coxville?" Jacob asked.

"It's a little town off the interstate." Helen said, her eyes still observing Klaatu's every bite.

"Hey Klaatu," the boy began, "did you see any cars on the road?"

"The road was bare of any life." the alien told him.

They moved on after a quick breakfast, pushing along the footpath.

.:Å:.

Then came the night of the falling stars. They had been walking silently near the empty road, bordering the woodlands that lined each side. The falling stars were seen in the early morning hours just before dawn, rushing over them westward, a line of flame high in the atmosphere. Others must have seen it too someplace far from where they were.

The three of them halted and watched for a good length of time, their eyes heavy and their legs throbbing.

"A meteor shower." Helen mouthed. Jacob gasped in awe.

They left a reddish streak behind them that glowed for a few seconds before fading into the now clear sky, traveling with a hissing sound. When they hit, there was a faint rumbling that seeped through the ground beneath them, albeit minor in the area they were standing.

"I'd say they're around a hundred feet above us at the most." Helen said. "Looks to me like they're falling about a hundred miles west of us too."

"They're weird." Jacob said, yawning tiredly.

"But beautiful." his step-mother noted. "It's bizarre seeing them in this range; most meteors explode in the atmosphere... We'd better move along."

Klaatu was bemused by the shower of meteors. To him they looked to be more than just _that_. It had something to do with the streak they left behind them being a reminder of something he recalled seeing once - but he kept it to himself, acknowledging that it was more than likely nothing.

The meteor shower died down at last and before long they were in Coxville. It was a small town indeed with only a bank, a grocery store and an empty ice cream shop. Everything was empty - that entire town was dead - and there were a few little houses built along the narrow road that looked haunted. Without question they made their way to the grocery story.

The door was bolted shut. Helen and Jacob stood knocking on the doors and windows for a minute or so, until Klaatu lost patience and bounded in, kicking his way through the glass - Helen jumped back, clutching Jacob and pulling him behind her.

"Klaatu, for goodness sakes be careful!"

The alien ignored her and stepped in, his shoes breaking the shattered glass that laid spilt all over the floor beneath him. With mild trepidation, Helen and Jacob followed in behind - they'd never broken into anything.

"Hello?" Helen's voice echoed throughout the lifeless store that was unlit and depressing.

"I doubt anyone's in here, Mom." Jacob said.

"Well, you never know." she shrugged.

Klaatu began grabbing things from the shelves - dry foods, canned goods, sardines and crackers, bottled water, whatever they needed. Helen was searching for dog food and toilet tissue on the other aisle. It was difficult seeing in the dark, but there was enough daylight shining in through the windows to help them see well enough.

Jacob had wandered to the magazine wall, finding a couple of comic books to take along - you can only imagine how desperate the boy was for entertainment. The little puppy was still cradled in his arms, but he let it down for a while to stretch its legs whilst he sat and watched.

Helen came pacing toward her step-son carrying tissue paper and a bag of puppy chow, smiling at the little pup who wagged its tail and waddled about.

"What are you guys up to?"

"I'm just letting Max stretch his legs."

"_Max_?"

"Well, you know…I figured he deserved a decent name at least. And Dad had a dog named Max when he was a kid."

Helen smiled gently and said,

"I think Max is a perfect name."

Jacob smirked and returned his sight upon 'Max'.

Helen strayed alone to the front of the store, laying all that she had in her arms against the windows and looking out. While standing there, the lights suddenly flicked on and she turned around seeing Klaatu pacing toward her.

"What happened?" she asked. Jacob had noted the lighting too.

"I found the power switch in the back." Klaatu said. "I flipped it on."

"Too bad you didn't find it earlier." Helen commented. "I think there's a restroom in the back. I'm gonna wash up and change my clothes, you mind?"

Klaatu shook his head. They had plenty of time to mingle - there was no rush.

"Jake," Helen called out as she began trailing down the aisle that led straight to the restroom, her satchel strewed over her shoulder, "you need to wash up in the boy's room."

"Okay Mom." Jacob uttered, enjoying a Batman comic.

"Now Jacob."

"Okay!" The boy shot up, grabbing Max and heading to the front.

"I'm putting your fresh clothes by the door." Helen shouted.

"Hey Klaatu," the boy began, "will you watch Max?"

"Yes." The alien took the puppy from Jacob and returned to watching the street outside. He stood silent for a moment, the little dog held gently in his arms, looking out and pacing the floors slowly. After a while he wandered curiously to the management counter near the far left wall, finding a television mounted up on the stucco wall. He rounded the counter, putting Max on the surface whilst he tinkered with the television set. It was mounted high, but he was tall enough to reach it.

It was a mere press of the power button. The screen came into focus - a bit fuzzy - but clear for the most part. The news anchor was sweaty, his face full of fear - but the scale of his task to inform the country would have daunted even the most courageous of men. He continuously swabbed his forehead with a handkerchief, his other hand gripping the microphone. At the bottom of the screen it read:

_**Breaking News!**_

This was the national news channel, and as of right now it was filmed about as bleak as a local news station during a hurricane warning. The anchorman began to make his report, not a recited one, but a desperate warning for all who were watching.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I know our network has been out of service for several days now, and for the last few days we've had our breaking news alert on billboards and flyers. The World War III possibility we mentioned a few days ago is about to become a reality. All the countries are going to be fighting over resources rather than working together to fix the crisis we are facing now, the crisis that was caused by the invasion to our planet. The Saudi Royal Family has cut off our fuel resources in order to preserve it for them self. Russia is sending threats of an invasion to take over these resources and so is the U.S. and several other countries surrounding them. Russia is also threatening to invade Alaska to take over the Alaskan Pipeline. The U.S. has threatened to nuke Russia if they attempt to invade the State, and Russia is threatening to attack other European countries to take their resources. Japan has also threatened to invade China for their resources along with several other Asian countries. North Korea has threatened to nuke China_…"

By this time, Helen had walked in, freshly dressed and drying her hair with a hand towel. She spotted Klaatu and the running television immediately and stepped closely to listen. Not long after, Jacob found himself watching too from the other side of the counter that Max was laying on.

"_The U.K. has asked the U.S. to aid them in an attempt to overthrow Russia and to take over the Saudi fuel resources, and has agreed to share the fuel with the U.S. - but the U.S. has declined the offer saying they are planning on taking it all for themselves. It has become a game of only the strong will survive…There is about a two day countdown to a nuclear war. Every major U.S. city is being evacuated. People are advised not to get into their vehicles but to walk to the evacuation routes..."_

"That explains why all of those people were _really_ lined up at the bridge in New York. All of those soldiers having them to stand in line and handing out supplies." Helen noted.

"_Police and the National Guard are driving and flying over every town, city and neighborhood to alert and tell civilians where to go. Now, the bad news is not over yet, I'm afraid. This morning a report came in informing us of a meteor shower flying in around the northern east of the United States. These unidentified objects, that were referred to as meteors, have made large craters in their landing. The turf and gravel about it was described as looking charred as if by a sudden explosion. Many have reported feeling the ground rumble like that of an earthquake in brief bouts. Some said that when the unidentified objects came flying in, they made a hissing sound. Many are terrified that the extraterrestrials may be attacking us again while scientists are putting it off as mere meteors. The unidentified objects are being investigated and we are waiting to hear back from the Military…."_

The anchorman paused, wiping the sweat beads from his forehead once more before carrying on,

"_Oh_," He took a moment to read something, apparently what they had wrote down, "_Marshall Law has been declared in the U.S." _He paused once more and swallowed nervously, _"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going off air temporarily now in order to conserve power along with all radio stations. Power companies are turning power off in all homes and businesses in order to preserve energy for what's needed. And all gas stations that have remaining fuel are being shut down and monitored under Government Officials. All businesses will be closed to the public." _Again he paused, _"Ladies and gentlemen, be careful out there."_

The television lost its signal and everything went blur. Klaatu switched it off and turned around, casting upon his human companions a look of daunt and gloom. He said,

"Don't panic yet. The World War is the least of your worries."

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N: **A big shout out goes to T-U-X-I-D-O-G-R-E-Y for guiding me along with this whole crisis idea.


	6. On The Elizabethtown Common

**On The Elizabethtown Common**

Walking back to the encampment Klaatu carried with him the small lantern from the boat in hand, and its yellow glow contrasted vividly with the infinite series of tints between lavender-blue and black in which the landscape was painted.

Nocturnal insects began to appear in ghostly fashion out of the darkness and flutter around his light. He thought, perhaps, of all the possibilities of discovery that still laid in the dark triangle about him. To an alien the eastern woodlands are a wonderland full of strange questions and half-suspected discoveries - and he knew so much about it already, albeit only from distant observation.

He raised his lantern so that it was dangling out in front of him - his shoes were pressing against the sharp grasses beneath him, leaving a footprint of green. He could see the startled faces staring up at him in the light, the little fire before their feet flickering dimly.

As he stood firm and tall, coming toward them slowly, he looked almost frightening - like a damned soul coming to collect - but upon them he would inflict no harm.

"Have you come to terms with where the heck we are?" Helen asked him, shivering slightly beneath the quilt she was sharing with Jacob and Max. The cold chill was a still one, but it seeped through the air bitterly, numbing their toes and fingers.

"I found nothing." Klaatu replied. There was a hint of standoffish melancholy in his vocals.

Helen shot her glance away from him, huddling herself deeper into the quilt. Jacob sighed and said,

"I wish we were back home in the comfort of our beds."

He gave Klaatu a look then, one that spoke volumes of resentful angst. The alien did not note this until he sat and began working the fire again in an attempt to rekindle the dwindling flame, his black eyes seeming to stare bleakly into the boy's soul.

"If your people are so smart," Jacob began, "how come you couldn't see this coming?"

"Jacob!" Helen's voice hissed into his ear and an awkward silence seemed to stab their emotions like the chill of the night. At length, Klaatu spoke.

"The only process my people saw coming was the demolishing of your kind. And if I know anything about the human memory chamber, I shouldn't have to recite the events that you yourself lived through again. What is unfolding now is a result of unorthodox practice - my choice to spare your kind. I wanted to see you change, but I knew it was a risk I was taking, and a great sacrifice. Yet, I wanted to believe that your species was worth that effort. Whether or not I was right in believing my efforts reasonable is for the humans to decide. But resource greediness is not a fault of mine - or my overseers."

Klaatu trained his sight on the fire again, the brightness of the flames giving color to his dark eyes. To their preference, Helen and Jacob retained their tongues, knowing very well that what would come bounding out of them would be harsh criticism - as hard as it was for both of them.

While they were in the small town of Coxville earlier that day, a small band of M1A2 Abrams Tanks had come rumbling in and they were given little choice but to leave, desperately fleeing on a woodland footpath that met them from the back door of the grocery store. From there they ran though a vast cattle field and fled to the woods. Along the way they had trailed off too far from the road, only to find themselves wandering like wild folk in the New Jersey woodlands - by nightfall they were forced to make camp, and a last they caught rest.

.:Å:.

Forenoon was upon them before long, and the chilling spring air that had terrorized them the previous night had grown warmer. They gathered the satchels and carried on towards the small dirt path that parted way through the grass field and to the deeper woods ahead. All the while Helen was hopeful that they'd at least luck upon a farm, or something that could give them direction to the roads - she regretted that they hadn't been rational enough in their haste through the cattle field to search for any such thing.

Up ahead of them was a clearing, and Klaatu decided to heed to Jacob's peevish whimpers of tired legs by suggesting the spot acceptable for momentary halt.

As Jacob rested, he and Helen drank water and ate a little something - some candy he had taken from the store. Max relished in his kibble.

"I wish none of this ever happened." Jacob said, leaning forward and absentmindedly watching Max eat. He shot his eyes up at his step-mother and the extraterrestrial, finding that their expressions were slightly bemused - well, Helen's at least. He went on, "I wish you never came, Klaatu."

Klaatu tilted his head slightly, seeming to rank the little boy in an observatory way.

"Jacob, baby," Helen gave an exasperated sigh, "don't say that."

"But I mean it, Mom. I do wish he never came. If they just left us alone, none of this would've ever happened. We'd be at home and safe. There'd be no crazy people rummaging the streets, no nuclear wars about to break out over fuel."

Helen saw him now, perhaps in the same light as Klaatu had seen her that night she argued with him. She wanted to make her step-son understand the best way she knew how.

"Honey, I know that a lot of bad stuff has come out of all this, but can't you at least try to see the good in it?" she asked as she took her place at his side, wrapping her hand around his.

"What good? We're lost in the woods in the middle of nowhere."

"Yes but, you and I are stronger now, together. And look what else you've got," Helen gestured towards Max who wagged his tail at the sight of them, "a puppy of your very own. And Max would be completely lost without you."

"I guess I can't say you're wrong about that." Jacob sighed. "But still-"

"I know." Helen whispered, cradling him gently. "But don't blame Klaatu for this, okay? Holding a grudge about something you can't take back will only hurt _you _in the end. Let it go. We have to live for today, not the yesterday that's already behind us."

"I'm sorry." the boy uttered.

"It's alright." Helen said.

As they sat in the warmth of each other's arms, planted firmly on the old withered log, Klaatu watched silently - he was beginning to feel at a loss for himself. He felt alone and naked in the dark, like an animal trapped in a cage. There seemed to be some wishful thinking that wanted to tamper with his lack of humanistic emotions as he watched them…

A sacrifice indeed. This much he had acknowledged.

In the daunt of it all, a shrill hissing sound became audible over the trees. It was too crowded of branches and greenery for them to see anything in the sky, but it was made by one of the meteors - Klaatu was certain of it. It must have been dangerously close in its proximity because as it zoomed overhead, the trees around them began to sway violently.

Klaatu rushed to the side of his human companions, draping himself over them with his slightly worn coat, shielding them as best he could should there be any falling branches. And as the rush of it all began to die down, they heard a terrible explosion in the distance, followed by a vibration that seeped through the Earth beneath them. It was a terrible rumble, one that sent them to their knees. It died down after about five minutes.

They clambered to their feet with Klaatu's help. Helen and Jacob were shaken by the impact and little Max was all but petrified.

"What do you think that was?" Helen asked worriedly.

"I'm going to find out." Was all the alien said as he began to plunge deeper into the woods, crunching and breaking whatever twigs and dead timber that nature had laid out in his path. They followed him without question.

As they ran, their feet eventually carried them to the small community of Elizabethtown, New Jersey that met them down from the woodland hillside.

.:Å:.

In the town center they found a little crowd of perhaps twenty people surrounding a huge hole in which a cylinder lay - anything but a mere meteor. The turf and gravel around it looked just the way the anchorman had described it on television; charred and burnt. Hither and thither were tiny dying flames scorching the ground before finally dying out.

Helen was reluctant when first they came running down, and she wanted to stop Klaatu in his path for their own goodwill. But everyone was too befuddled by the cylinder that laid lifeless in the pit to heed them.

It was apparent that their arrival had been late. Everyone was quiet and along the edge of the pit sat five young boys, each with their feet dangling, amusing themselves and throwing stones at the giant mass - until a city official stopped them. It was a scarcely lively little town, but to their surprise it was still warm with human life. The Military must not have made their rounds this far yet, for the people, what few there were, gathered all about the place.

Klaatu halted warily at the edge, looking down into the dreadful hole of sand and burnt Earth. Helen could see him turning ghastly pale in the sunlight and his eyes looked widened with some dreadful fear - like a longing fear that he had suppressed in secret up until now. What they were looking upon was a machine of some sort, constructed entirely of some strong metal - it was hardly scathed at all.

Some of the people that stood around them consisted of a cyclist, a girl with a crying baby, a town official who was trying to keep everyone in line, a man and his two boys and a few others - all of which looked petrified and confused.

"Have any of you heard the news?" Helen began to ask. She thought it selfish to go on without telling them. One stout man, the town official, stepped forward and nodded.

"Yes. We know all about what's going on." he said. "We also heard what they said about the meteors - I guess this gives us our answer." He nodded once more and began swabbing his forehead with a cloth.

Jacob stepped closer to Helen's side, clutching her hand and staring down at the cylinder.

Klaatu remembered hearing no birds singing that morning - if any had even managed to remain - there was certainly no breeze stirring either before the hissing came zooming in overhead in the woods. As he contemplated it all to himself, he began to faintly hear the sounds of movement within the cylinder.

"Step back." he mouthed. "All of you."

Helen furrowed her brows at this, but when the sound became audible to her own ears, she took his orders to heart, telling whoever attempted to come close to remain by the safety of the large fountain.

Klaatu watched as a large chunk of metal came flinging off from the top barrier, falling with a sharp noise amongst the sand that brought his heart into his mouth. Instantly, he knew what this meant, and, although the heat was excessive, he clambered down into the pit close to the bulk to see the thing more clearly, never heeding once to Helen's cries for him to come back. And as he stood close and waiting, he knew something inside had burst the door of the machine open!

Atop the surface a long gangly arm, its skin a sickly brown, came flopping out onto the top of the machine. People, the ones who caught sight of this, began screaming, "They're back! They're back! The aliens are back!" and growing mad in a panicked frenzy, scattering off in a haste. Helen didn't even bother to calm them, but she told Jacob to remain safe and hidden behind the fountain whilst she stepped up to have a closer look from the safety of the pit's edge. What was in that cylinder she could not conceive, but she knew that the arm gaping out of it was not human. A kind of fascination paralyzed Helen's actions, for the closer Klaatu came to the cylinder the more the Thing inside began to crawl its way out.

The Thing was not large in structure, nor was it muscularly built. It was a starved looking creature with arms as thin as a young child's. When it emerged its large head, she could faintly make out large glowing eyes that had a horrifying yellow contrast, and the tiny mouth that was dangling open exposing small fangs. It appeared to be looking at him and only him, and before she knew it Klaatu was crouched near the opening of which the Thing was drooping out.

She couldn't make out their words the slightest bit, but she struggled to listen despite it all. The creature had a raspy voice that was weak and breathless and she nearly suspected that it was a friend of his - Oh no! It came to her: This was his own kind, coming here to search him out, take him home! He must've been telling it what had happened; but then again, why did he look so dreadful before? Didn't he want them to come find him?

They continued uttering something in a language she could not decipher, but suddenly Klaatu grew harsh - harsher than he typically expressed himself - and the creature pointed its long grotesque talon at him as if giving a threat. Helen concluded that there was some disagreement raging on between them, and to her Klaatu looked frightfully worried beneath his scowl.

In that moment, the creature pulled itself clumsily back inside, looking as if it were already on its final breath, and the machine began to make a rushing hiss as it started to rumble smoothly. Klaatu came crawling up to where Helen stood and he took her by the wrist once his feet were planted on the ground again.

"What's going on?"

Klaatu didn't reply, he merely began running towards the fountain with her where he clutched Jacob's wrist and began pulling him along the opposite side of him. They began running back towards the hillside from which they had come from and when Helen glanced over her shoulder, she could see the machine raising up out of the pit - it was now constructed of movable robotic legs!

The face of the machine boasted a red eye, one that scanned the perimeter with an almost hint of disgust. It looked to be trained on the sight of them, and Klaatu darted behind a large bank - during this, Jacob had dropped one of the satchels over his shoulder whilst trying to keep hold of Max. As they galloped into the overgrowth that lay hidden behind the bank, they caught a deafening sound of a warming ray that rung through their ears painfully.

They made it through the small overgrowth and began crossing through another field. As they glanced over their shoulders they caught glimpse of a horrible sight; the red eye on the machine was petrifying everything in its path, the town, the woods that surrounded it, and they could faintly hear the screams and wails of the remaining common folk.

_Don't panic yet_, Klaatu had said before, _The World War is the least of your worries_. It was all coming clear to Helen in a rhapsody of horrific trauma. This new invasion was the main threat. And it was only a matter of time before the whole world had to face it, if they hadn't already.

_If one machine could disintegrate an entire town, imagine what several of them could do to the world_, she thought.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: **My idea for this was partly inspired by _The War Of The Worlds_ by H.G. Wells (book, not movies).


	7. Not A Savior

**Not A Savior**

They could see him walking with a swift foot up ahead, his silhouette as black as night against the unfathomable dark of the sky. Their every breath was ragged and painful, for they had been partly running and partly walking for hours, trying to escape the demolition that occurred in Elizabethtown. And every attempt to ask him to slow his pace or give them a moment's rest had been a pointless effort.

A swift intuition had already flashed itself upon Helen. She knew he was dreading something. These creatures, these creatures that were coming here in these massive machines were here to harm mankind. They were angry at him, that much was bleakly obvious in the oblivion of it all.

Before Helen or Jacob could mouth another plead for him to slow down and let them halt, he paused abruptly, like a battery that had gone dead, and he turned around. His cold, dark orbs observed them in the dark.

"Can we _finally_ stop?" Jacob asked, irritably.

Klaatu replied not in words, but the actions that followed spoke for themselves. He began gathering things off the ground; twigs, branches, whatever he could retrieve. He knelt down and began tearing into the grass, wiping out a clearing so that it was only a dirt patch. He snatched a couple of good faggots and began rubbing them together so fast until it sounded like the working of a handsaw.

When the sparks brought flame to the pit, Helen and Jacob took their seats on the plush ground, sitting their satchels aside and searching for something to eat in the heaviest bag. Often, they glanced Klaatu with slight wariness, but he walked away, leaving them alone and finding better comfort on the edge of the hillside.

"Jacob," Helen whispered, opening the boy a can of ravioli, "you stay here with Max and finish eating. I'm going to have a word with Klaatu."

"About that machine, right Mom?" he asked.

"Just stay put."

The crickets whispered a gentle melody along the hillside that looked over a small pond accented with cattails and an open field that met a road somewhere down in the darkness.

The alien attempted to relax himself, inhaling through his nostrils and training his eyes on the sight of the moon and stars that gave mystery to the night. His mind wanted to run away with him to a dark and dangerous place, a place he felt he couldn't do anything about at the moment - but he retained that eagerness.

As he rested his mind, pushed aside his trouble, laid the horrors of the day aside to rest, he couldn't resist thinking about his own losses. It flashed through him in a sense of encumber that his home, the place he came from, was possibly lost to him for eternity. He was alone on this planet, barely relieved by the strange company he still had, left to face it all on his own. In a way, you might say that Klaatu had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders right now - maybe more than one world.

"You're thinking again." Helen had merged up to his right side, and he noted that her eyes were trained on the sky as well - not him - whilst her hands were tucked in the pockets of her jeans.

Klaatu remained unresponsive at first, turning away from the view of her and resting his eyes back on the night sky. At first, there was a social discomfort between them.

"I guess this may be the end of the world as we know it after all." Helen uttered, speaking to herself more than anything - yet she was hopeful to have his ears.

He could hear her sigh; it was rattled and shaky. They became silent and stood watching for a minute's time deriving, Helen fancied, a sort of comfort in each others company - for her at least.

"Is it hard knowing you may never get home?" she asked him. Perhaps coming right out and insisting that he begin explaining to her what was going on might have drove him away. So, she began the conversation on a subtle, sentimental scale.

"It is difficult to an extent." he replied solemnly.

She would've gladly asked him more about what he was feeling, about that tugging sensation that might have been plaguing him. But the effort might have been pointless anyway going by his silent, reluctant-to-open-up nature, and so she just began pouring out the questions. After all, weren't these his people who had come?

"But they're looking for you, aren't they? Why did you run away, other than the fact they almost killed us?"

Klaatu glanced her with an expressionless face, yet he was almost amused by this assumption of hers.

"Helen, these are not _my_ people." he told her straight up. Might as well hit her with the facts now rather than lead her around in the dark.

"Then who are they? Klaatu, what's going on? You have to tell me."

An infinite instance of silence lapped between them and then came the great conclusion:

"They are like wolves in a sheep field. They're here to collect what they see as their property. They want this planet for one sole purpose: Resource…My overseers bargained with this race, their leaders: Should this mission fail, the Earth would fall into their rights. It would be theirs for the taking. But we knew this mission would not fail, or at least that was our assumption - you however changed my mind, and when I stopped the demolition of your species, I knew that I was taking a risk. It was only a matter of time before they came to take what they see as theirs…and now they're here. They will wipe every living thing out of existence with brute force, and they will spare you no empathy ... We have never lost a planet to them before. We've always been able to succeed, to save each dying world. But this time we- _I've_ failed."

"But can't your people do something to stop them?"

"No Helen. The bargain was made. It was agreed. Now this world is theirs for the taking."

"Klaatu, are you telling me that you were not only trying to save the Earth from us, but from them as well?"

"Yes."

"Then what are we supposed to do then, sit back and accept a grim fate? How are we going to stand against them?" She was growing hysterical. "Klaatu, please! This doesn't make sense, I don't understand!"

He appeared unmoved by her words, and it was becoming clear that he had no answer. Helen's eyes were burning with hot tears that began to roll uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"Klaatu," she wept, "why the hell does it have to be this way? There has to be something you can do."

He glanced her. It wasn't easily noticed in his steely face, but there was evidence of an overwhelming exhaustion that dampened him.

"Won't you say something?" she begged. "Don't you have anything to give me here…something other than this painful silence?"

"Helen," he spoke at length, "I know what it is you seek from me, and I cannot give it to you."

"Wh-" she stammered, "what? What do you mean?"

"I cannot be a savior for your people, nor can I fill the empty void in your own life for the sake of you and your son."

"Klaatu I-"

"Forgive me, Helen. I desire to be alone in my thoughts."

He trailed away from her, leaving her with wet eyes, a cold shiver, and standing like a fool on the hillside.

She sat contemplating things in the grass. She could find nothing to bring against this man's - alien's - reasoning. If there was ever any hint of gentle eroticism she had for him, he had ensured himself to kill it before it blossomed into something. She liked him in a sense, his protectiveness, his intriguing perplex being. He had fascinated her from the beginning. And now he deemed himself full of habitual skepticism. He would not bend, he would not give hope. Damn him! Damn him!

She had succumbed to doubt herself.

There was a touch to her shoulder - it was only as soft as the night breeze - but she jumped at the slightest touch of his fingertips. It was Jacob standing behind her, looking worried and petrified by his step-mother's state. She was the only thing he had in this world to depend on, the closest thing to a mother's unconditional love. If he were to lose her to the same unsubstantial virtue of which she had lost Klaatu, where would he turn to? Who would he have then? - No one, that's what. She had to dry her eyes, get a hold of herself, be strong for him.

If Klaatu wasn't willing to protect and give them hope, she would.

.:Å:.

By the following morning, Helen had filled herself with a strong-willed determination. She was readying herself to set out to find Barnhardt by taking the roads she thought she knew until she would happen upon his home.

She and Jacob completed their packing and as she strung her backpack over her shoulder, she cast her sight upon Klaatu who sat still and silent in the grass away from them.

"You're welcome to come along if you want, unless you find it more necessary to wait here and let them find you." She sniffled hard, her nose burning. "But Jacob and I are leaving. We're going to find the Professor one way or another."

Klaatu kept silent for a length of time, and she was hopeful that he'd stand up and go along, maybe rekindle his own assurance along the road.

"I will accompany you to the house." he said at last. "But I will part with you afterwards."

"Why?" Jacob demanded. "Why do you have to part?"

"It is for my own good and yours, young Jacob." the alien replied stiffly.

"That's not fair." the boy uttered. Helen rested her hand on his shoulder and when he glanced her, she shook her head as if saying 'Now is not the time.'

"Klaatu," she began, "can I ask you something?"

The alien nodded once, awaiting her to say whatever it was she wanted to ask.

"Do you ever get scared?"

He studied her: The general appearance of this woman was of one who is weary, her long dark hair loose, unkempt, her smooth skin no longer loved, her face moderately stained with dirt. The scarf about her neck blackened by mud, the laces of her shoes slowly unraveling, the thin sweater and the dark jeans hugging her thin frame tattered. But her eyes! Ah! They were still bright like the northern star on a late winter's night.

The question diluted his self-assurance, his own confident proclaiming of himself. It stunned him in an odd fashion - even as simple as it was - and she observed this almost concededly. How could he reply so that it made sense? What was the tangible emotion that struck fear from a human's standpoint? It was true that he himself boasted an instinctive fear; as of right now he was fearful of these new invaders and what they would do. But what did Helen think fear was to him? Knowing the extraordinary differences between them, Klaatu doubted it was the same.

**To Be Continued.**


End file.
